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Just like last year, I’m late posting the first CD Scavenger Hunt of the new year! If you’re reading this, I’m actually writing this in mid-March but I’m back dating it for the end of January.

One thing I like about the beginning of the year is that I start things off right with gift cards I received at the holidays…..my family knows that I get a thrill everytime I walk in a record store so gift cards are always a perfect gift. I also like that I can catch up on some of the previous year’s releases and there always seems to be some great used CDs that people turn in for extra holiday cash! Armed with $90 in gift cards, I began the hunt early the day after New Year’s…..

Newbury Comics

Benedictum – Dominion (2011) – $10: Benedictum is one of my favorite newer bands of the last ten years or so but I never got around to buying their latest album until now. I had a good reason…..I was lucky to get a promo download of DOMINION from Frontiers Records early in 2011 and I just kept passing up the actual CD. I’m a collector at heart and I like having the physical CD in my possession so I was going to buy the DOMINION CD eventually but I didn’t NEED to buy it right away. The other problem was that my waiting meant that I missed out on the sale price from the new release making the regular price $17. Two days into the new year and the first thing I find is a new sale price on two of the three copies of DOMINION so i scooped one up right away! Sale price was $10 so I saved $7 off the regular price.

Tesla – Twisted Wires & The Acoustic Sessions (2011) – $16: I really had no intention of ever buying this album because I was never a fan of unplugged Tesla (I can’t stand ‘Signs’ and the rest of FIVE MAN ACOUSTICAL JAM) but I wanted to hear the new songs. I was also intrigued by the fact that the band decided to go acoustic on some lesser known songs rather than their usual string of big hits. Now I’m a big Tesla fan, I buy all the albums and I catch them on tour, but acoustic? Not sure I could take it again. The only saving grace here was that I knew that I was armed with gift cards from the holidays so I was able to splurge and pick up this CD when I normally wouldn’t spend the hard-earned cash unless it was used. The other deciding factor that I’ve only seen two copies in my recent travels to different record stores, I figured I’d buy it while I saw it because I would never order it online unless, of course, it was used on Ebay. No savings here as I had to eat the $16 regular price.

KISS – Ikons (2008) – $20 used: KISS is my favorite band but I’ve been finished for many years buying every compilation that Polygram sees fit to release…..and Polygram decides to release multiple every year with no need for Paul & Gene’s involvement because the label owns the back catalogue. When IKONS came out in 2008, I thought it was a different take on the usual compilation: 4 CDs with one CD for each original KISS member featuring their prominent songs. I remember seeing the $40 price tag back then thinking to myself: “I can make that compilation at home from the studio albums!”. I never bothered to buy it and never bothered to look for it. I hadn’t seen it for 3 years and someone decided to trade it in for store credit while I was there! For some reason, I had to have it! Mint condition, slipcase included (not pictured), I saved $20 off the regular price waiting 3 years and buying used.

Alice In Chains – Facelift (1990) – $6 used: I never got around to buying FACELIFT way back in the day and people tend to forget that Alice In Chains was more Heavy Metal on this debut than part of the Grunge movement. I’ve been on an Alice In Chains kick lately on Spotify and I realised I only owned one Alice In Chains CD, MTV UNPLUGGED (1996). I’ve always enjoyed the band’s music and I remember having a dubbed cassette of FACELIFT from a friend back in ’90 so I figured it was time to pick up this band’s catalog. I always start at the first album when I can and there were tons of copies to be found all at different prices for both new and used. I found the lowest used price (by a dollar!) but $6 is better than paying the $15 regular price.I saved $9 and added an esential debut album by a solid band.

Royal Hunt – Future Coming From The Past (Live In Japan 1996/1998) DVD (2011) – $18: Released on Frontiers Records for international consumption, this DVD was originally released only in Japan and only included the 1996 Japanese concert that is featured on the LIVE 1996 live record. With the return of D.C. Cooper to the band, and the new album SHOW ME HOW TO LIVE (2011), the band has finally released this show on DVD for the rest of us not in the land of the rising sun. Added to the 1996 performance is a 1998 Japanese performance of the PARADOX (1997) album in it’s entirety, a show which may have been another separate DVD for Japan only but was featured as a bonus CD titled CLOSING THE CHAPTER on the PARADOX limited edition box set. This DVD was released in December 2011 at the same time as the new studio album but I missed out on the single copy my favorite store decided to stock…..when I saw this after the holidays and still on sale, I jumped on it. Regular price was $22 so I saved $4.

Nightwish – Imaginaerum (2012) – $13: I was never a big Nightwish fan until 2007 when the band released DARK PASSION PLAY with new singer Anette Olzen (formerly of Alyson Avenue). I had a few Nightwish CDs with original singer Tarja Turunen but I just never got into them even though I like similar female-fronted bands. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 5 years since DARK PASSION PLAY so I rushed out the day of release to grab IMAGINAERUM. There were two versions of the album: regular CD and the double disc deluxe digipak that included an instrumental version of the entire album. Sale price for the regular was $13 and $20 for the deluxe…..I went with the single disc version because when am I really going to listen to the album without the vocals? The whole reason I became a bigger Nightwish fan was because of Anette’s vocals! Usually I buy the limited editions right away but this one seemed unnecessary. Regular price for the single disc version was $17 so I saved $4.

Nothing is better when someone decides to take a chunk of their collection and sell it to the record store for credit. It reminds me of the old days (1997 – 2002) when I used to hit this one mom & pop record store about 20 minutes from home twice a week. Back then, before used CDs really hit big, people would bring CDs in for cash on a Friday afternoon so they could go clubbing at night, same thing would happen on Saturdays. I would head up Saturday mornings and scoop up all the recently acquired used CDs from Friday at cheap prices and then I would show up on Tuesdays for the new releases and to plunder the Saturday used CD stash. This particular store used to have a “Buy 3, get 1 free” policy for used CDs, and they were anywhere from $5 to $8 depending on the title, so I used to go in and get anywhere from 4 to 20 CDs at a shot and really pad the collection with bands and albums that I wanted to try or had never seen before or hadn’t seen in a long time. My third trip to my usual Newbury Comics store was like a trip through time! Someone had gone in and sold a box of CDs for store credit…..an absolute ton of CDs! Looking at the album covers below you may or may not recognize some names but I sure did! I also noticed the record labels: MTM, SPV, Locomotive Records, Frontiers Records, Z Records, Escape Music, Majestic Rock, Chavis Records, AOR Heaven and a few self-released titles. There were way more CDs than I could buy so I had to leave a good amount behind (in case anyone in my area reads this, I’m not saying if the ones I left behind are still there!) but I bought 16 CDs that I knew I wouldn’t have an opportunity to buy again.

This used CD score was only $68! Assuming each CD sold for a regular price of $10 (could be more or less depending on the release year, label and popularity), I saved approximately $92! A lot of AOR, Melodic Rock and Hard Rock in this bunch but some Metal with Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath), Andre Matos (ex-Angra) and Artension. The two Fisc CDs go for big bucks on Ebay, even for reissues. It was nice to also score the N.O.W. album because I recieved a digital promo from Escape Music for review back in 2010 and I had been watching for a good price for the last two years to avoid the high import prices online. On to the final trip of the month to the record stores…..

Primal Fear – Unbreakable (2012) – $12: I haven’t missed a Primal Fear album yet and I wasn’t going to start now! I haven’t really kept up on the Metal news the last few months so I was surprised to hear that Primal Fear had a new record coming out…..usually I know when one of my favorite bands is releasing a new record! I’m a Power Metal guy and I consider Primal Fear and Hammerfall to be the leaders of the genre since it’s resurgence in 1997. I couldn’t pass up getting this the day of release because the band’s last two albums, NEW RELIGION (2007) and 16:6 (BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD) (2009), were awesome and the sal price was only $12 for the limited edition digipak with the bonus track ‘Night Of The Jumps’ and the video for ‘Bad Guys Wear Black’. Regular price was $17 so I saved $5.

Lacuna Coil – Dark Adrenaline (2012) – $12: When Lacuna Coil started in 1998, I became a fan. The whole Gothic Metal movement was really starting up with female-fronted bands and I jumped into the genre with bands like The Gathering, Lana Lane, Epica and Lacuna Coil to name a few. I really got into Lacuna Coil in 2002 (like everyone else!) with COMALIES and then I thought KARMACODE (2006) was a good record as well. I didn’t get into SHALLOW LIFE (2009) though, I just thought it was more of the same, nothing groundbreaking, and I was kind of sick of seeing the bandwagon get attached to the band just because Cristina Scabbia is hot! There’s a lot more to Scabbia than being hot (she’s a great singer!) and I just couldn’t take all the mallrats getting on board at Hot Topic or reading her “love advice” column in Revolver Magazine. I’m a loyal fan though and, if a band has a good track record, I keep coming back for more despite any subpar albums. I had to give DARK ADRENALINE a shot and I figured buying it the day of release on sale wouldn’t hurt as much if the album sucked. I did buy the deluxe version with the bonus DVD but it was only $2 more than the regular CD version. Regular rpice for the deluxe digipak was $17 so I saved $5…..and I’m crossing my fingers that I’m not disappointed!

Iron Savior – The Landing (2012) – $10: More Power Metal! Back in 1997 when I got my first dial-up AOL account, I discovered a whole new world of Heavy Metal with the click of a mouse. Everything I was reading about in magazines was now (almost) instantly available. That’s when I got back into a lot of bands I grew up with like Helloween…..who brought me to Gamma Ray…..who brought me to Iron Savior. The Kai Hansen connection is obvious but I got into Iron Savior with UNIFICATION in 1999 and I’ve picked up most of their albums despite Hansen leaving in 2001. I think this is one of the really underrated bands in the Power Metal scene, maybe that’s because the do get over looked by Helloween and Gamma Ray. THE LANDING came out everywhere else in late 2011 but the U.S. release was at the beginning of January 2012 so I was able to get a nice sale price saving $6 off the $16 regular price.

Lamb Of God – Resolution (2012) – $10: Feeding the Extreme Metal need! I’ve never paid Lamb Of God much attention because I’m not usually into their brand of Metal but I wanted to buy this new record in the hope that it will catch me and I can go back and check out their back catalog. I’m starting to get into a lot more extreme bands, more Thrash, Death, and Black Metal but I’m always wary of anything with “core” at the end. When asking some younger Metal dudes I know about Lamb Of God, they labelled them Metalcore and I wasn’t sure what that meant but I had visions of Hot Topic lemmings again! Reviews of the band’s albums and live shows are always great and I decided to bite the bullet and check out a newer band (they’ve been around for around 15 years or more!). I think there might have been a deluxe version of RESOLUTION but I grabbed the regular CD and saved $4 off the regular price.

Motorhead – The World Is Ours – Vol.1: Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else (2012) – $14: I knew this was coming out and it was the main reason I went on this last shopping trip of the month. First, it’s Motorhead, one of my favorite bands. Second, it’s a 2 CD & 1 DVD live set. Third, sale price was $14 and I would save $6 off the regular price. Motorhead always gives a nice package and great live albums so this is worth picking up for that alone but what I like is that the audio CDs are exact to the DVD. Too many times you get a live DVD and a live CD set and they are sold separately (Hello Iron Maiden!). I understand it’s a business but give the fans a break! The people that buy this stuff are the diehards, the people who buy the tickets, buy the merchandise and spend their hard earned money on their favorite band. Motorhead gets it, that’s why they are loved by the fans. It’s in your face, straight up Heavy Metal on DVD and 2 CDs…..easy to spend $14 on!

Ebay

One thing I didn’t do as much last year was use Ebay to get a lot of older releases so I decided to step up my research this year and see if there are better bargains on Ebay for new and old CDs. I got off to a great start this year by acquiring some albums I’ve been watching for a long time. Prices here include shipping…..

Salty Dog – Every Dog Has It’s Day (1990) – $20 used: $20 may seem a little pricey for a CD that is 22 years old but you’d be surprised how much this CD goes for. I’ve been watching this debut by Salty Dog for years and I’ve never been able to find it on Ebay for less than $30. I’ve seen this CD go for over $60 many times over the last few years after bidding wars occurred during auctions. I haven’t seen this CD in a record store in at least 10 years so maybe there was only a small pressing back in the day? I read somewhere recently that Salty Dog had a good initial run but the album stalled when MTV decided not to continue to play the band’s video because there was a dispute between MTV and Geffen Records. Who knows if that’s true or not but the album is hard to find here in Rhode Island. This copy is a promotional copy as stamped on the CD itself but the inserts have no punch holes.

Great White – Hooked & Live In New York (1990) – $53 used: Another CD that’s over 20 years old! So why is this over $50? It’s a Japanese import that includes both CDs in this limited edition pressing and includes all inserts, OBI strips and the original cover artwork for HOOKED. I’ve had HOOKED since it came out in 1991 but I never acquired the original artwork on vinyl, CD or cassette so I’ve been watching for a decently priced copy for a while. The LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY disc is sold separately for around $15 usually but it’s a unique Japanese pressing so when I had the opportunity to grab it, I splurged a little. Everything is in perfect mint condition so I was pretty psyched to cross another indulgence off the growing want list.

Danger Danger – Revolve (2009) – $13: I wrote a WANTED column on this Danger Danger album two years ago and I never bothered to pick it up. I had plenty of opportunities to buy it online but I always pushed it aside for newer releases and, as the want list grew, REVOLVE went down the list. I was cleaning up my desk and I found a paper that had a few albums written on it and REVOLVE was one of them so I went over to Ebay and started looking for the best price. I ended up paying only $13 total for a U.S. pressing which is a great price for a brand new sealed CD…..I wish I could get more as reasonable! Nothing is better than crossing off an album from my want list, especially one that I featured here on the website, but I’ve been looking forward to this album because the reviews are all so positive.

Accept – Objection Overruled (1993) – $13 used: After I bought the Danger Danger CD, I started to check all the other WANTED posts I published for CDs that have gone down the priority list…..enter OBJECTION OVERRULED, a huge hole in my Accept collection! I wrote this album’s WANTED column back in March 2008, and it’s one of my Ebay alerts, but it always seems to fetch a higher price than I am willing to pay. The Japanese issue with the bonus track ‘Rich & Famous’ goes for $30+ easy but the U.S. pressing on CMC International I’ve seen draw $25+ on many different occasions. I already own the ‘Rich & Famous’ song on another release so buying a Japanese import wasn’t necessary unless the prices evened out but I found a seller with a great BUY IT NOW price and I bought it the first day it went up.

AC/DC – T.N.T (1975) – $30 used: I was on a roll buying up CDs from the WANTED posts so I figured one more wouldn’t hurt. I’ve been watching the Australian only release T.N.T. from AC/DC for years and I’ve never been able to buy one for under $40 because most of the copies come from Australian sellers and the shipping is always enormous. I wrote this album’s WANTED post back in September 2008 and I’ve had T.N.T. as an Ebay alert for at least 7 years so I really wanted to get this one off the list and it was easy once I found a U.S. seller. I ended up getting into a slight bidding war at the end but my top price of $27 won it for me with seconds to go…..add the $3 shipping and you get the $30 total. Now I just need to acquire the Australian versions of HIGH VOLTAGE and DIRTY DEEDS so I can have the original artwork.

Zebra – IV (2003) – $8 used: I’ve been on a massive Zebra kick since I kept hearing ‘Tell Me What You Want’ a few times on the local Rock station’s “classic lunch” show but I realized I only had that one song on a CDR someone made me and I had no way of playing my Zebra tapes because I don’t own a cassette deck anymore. I bought the second and third Zebra studio albums on a previous Hunt but the first album, Zebra’s most successful, eluded me at a good price. While I was searching for the first Zebra record, I found the band’s fourth (ZEBRA IV) and I got an awesome price of $6 + $2 shipping. I’ve never seen ZEBRA IV in stores since 2003 so I knew that this was going to be a rare one at that price, usually it still lists for around $15. The search continues for the debut album…..

WANTED

Danger Danger – Revolve (2009)

This is another top priority for early 2010! I don’t know how I missed that Danger Danger were releasing a new album but I only found out about it in November. I’ve been following Danger Danger since their debut in 1989 and I’m psyched that this is the first Danger Danger album in years with original lead singer Ted Poley. I have read a lot of great reviews on various websites and I noticed more than a few of those sites’ year end lists had REVOLVE on it. If the new Winger and Helix are awesome I have no doubt the new Danger Danger is as well. I tried ordering this from a couple of different online stores in the last couple months of 2009 and they were sold out everytime! Like I said, a top priority, so I will either be ordering online or burning gift cards at the local record store for this CD in the next week.

Drove to work Saturday night and turned back halfway there because I forgot my MP3 player…..there is no way I’m working the graveyard shift without it! Here’s what I played to make 3rd shift a little easier…..

Yngwie Malmsteen – Marching Out (1985): Nothing beats ‘I’ll See The Light Tonight’ and Jeff Scott Soto on lead vocals. I’ve always thought that Yngwie’s earlier albums were more focused.

Alcatrazz – No Parole For Rock ‘N Roll (1983): Yngwie connection! Alcatrazz is one of my favorite bands…..and one that doesn’t get a lot of credit. Graham Bonnet is superb on the mic and Yngwie is controlled, not over the top.

Alcatrazz – Disturbing The Peace (1985): I love this album but I wanted to compare Yngwie’s playing on the first album to Steve Vai’s performance on this one. I think the album would have been better with Yngwie…..

Michael Schenker Group – Assault Attack (1982): From Yngwie to Bonnet to Schenker…..a solid connection! Another all-time favorite album of mine and probably MSG’s best.

Metallica – Death Magnetic (2008): It’s not as bad as I thought it might be, definitely better than ST. ANGER!

Iced Earth – The Crucible Of Man (Something Wicked Pt.2) (2008): One of the top albums of the year! I haven’t had much faith in Jon Schaffer after the band released the masterpiece SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES in 1998. Since then, I think all the albums have been subpar until 2007’s FRAMING ARMAGEDDON. This album is even better!

Danger Danger – Cockroach (2001): COCKROACH is the shelved third D2 album from ’93/’94. Original singer Ted Poley recorded the album with the band in 1993 but then he got fired. Lawsuits prevented the album from being released. D2 got Paul Laine to replace Poley and he re-recorded the vocals but the band’s label kept it shelved. The band finally got Poley and Epic Records to agree to release the album in 2001 but with both versions included. I’ve had this album for a while…..in a pile waiting to be spun. I was only able to get through the Paul Laine version and that version is very good.

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